


A Storm Rolls In (To Stay)

by InkandFire98



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Panic Attacks, Author's Note explains everything, Bad Puns, Blood and Injury, Disney References, Eventual LAMP - Freeform, I'm Bad At Summaries, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Manipulative Deceit Sanders, Mild Gore, Movie Night, Non-Graphic Violence, Oh and there will be cursing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Platonic Moxiety, Protective Morality | Patton Sanders, Rating May Change, Remus Sanders is a Nasty Boy, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death, Warnings May Change, and tagging tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2020-07-12 04:51:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkandFire98/pseuds/InkandFire98
Summary: Virgil had spent most of his life as a Dark Side, but when he runs away and ends up in the consciousness where he meets the Main Sides, where can his path possibly lead?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone welcome to the first chapter of my first fic I've ever posted! I'm so excited about this fic and where I hope to take it and I really hope the community likes it!  
> This chapter contains some mild sexual harassment in the form of Remus Sanders, and a very manipulative and not all that sympathetic Deceit, so if any of that makes you uncomfortable proceed with caution. Be safe fellow Famders!
> 
> The Sanders Sides obviously belong to Thomas.

Virgil gasped as everything suddenly burst to life around him. His chest ached as his heart beat a mile a minute, and he felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. Panicked, Virgil shot to his feet and looked around him. He was surrounded by twisted black trees and a suffocating black fog was starting to roll in. His chest tightened even more as he heard a deep growl come from the depths of the fog. He tried to run but his body felt completely paralyzed from fear. A thought suddenly hit him, he’d only been alive for moments and he was already going to die! Something grabbed his wrist from behind him and Virgil had barely enough sense to look at what was grabbing him. It was a man in a black hat and cape. Virgil could only see half his face but the other man looked almost as scared as he felt.

“Come with me! You can trust me!” Virgil’s eyes widened but he nodded and allowed himself to be yanked deeper into the forest. The fog eventually dispersed and Virgil realized that as they ran the forest was getting thinner but darker at the same time. Eventually, the trees were gone entirely only to be replaced by pitch blackness. 

“Wh-where are we?!” He cried as they continued to run. “I think it’s gone!” The hand on his wrist tightened painfully as the man stayed silent. A fresh spike of fear shot through Virgil and he tried to dig his heels into the ground to stop the man in the hat. The man looked back at him and Virgil gasped at seeing his face. This couldn’t be the same scared man from mere moments ago. His face was half covered in scales and the sinister grin on his lips stretched way too far on one side. Virgil immediately felt panicked again and started to pull against this monster’s grip. The snake man smirked even wider and tsked condescendingly. 

“Now now my little fraidy cat. Do you really want to encounter that monster again? I’m the only one who can keep you safe from it.” Violet eyes widened and he stopped pulling. He had no idea what this man was but he definitely wasn’t about to risk running into the monster in the forest again. The snake man released Virgil’s hand and bowed before him. 

“Deceit. At your service little one.” Virgil shivered at that name. He’d only been alive for a very short time but something didn’t feel at all right about Deceit.

“Um. I guess my name is Virgil…” He said crossing his arms in front of himself defensively, grabbing the sleeves of his hoodie. Deceit rose out of his bow and smirked again.

“Virgil. How delightfully ordinary.” Virgil’s skin crawled. It almost felt like Deceit was insulting him with his overly saccharine praises. “Come along Virgil. I’m sure you have questions. I will be happy to answer them _truthfully_.” Deceit said walking swiftly ahead. Virgil, afraid of being left behind in the darkness, followed after him.

Deceit lead Virgil to an area of the dark void that sported two wooden doors, a dirty, beat-up, couch, and an equally nasty looking kitchen under what looked like a single hanging light bulb.

“Home sweet home, dear Virgil.” Deceit said and waved over the depressing scene as if it was a grand palace. 

“DEE!” The scream was the only warning Virgil got before another person launched themselves at Deceit. Deceit hissed as he was tackled to the ground by a black and green blur. 

“Where were you, huh Dee? You didn’t go visit RoRo without me, did you? You know I love to mess with him!”

“Remus... I adore when you call me that.” Deceit said in a tone of voice that said he very much did not like it when this Remus called him Dee. The teenager finally seemed to notice Virgil standing awkwardly above them and jumped off of Deceit. He was a little taller than Virgil with sickly green eyes and just the barest wisps of a mustache growing on his lip. He was dressed in an ostentatious green and black outfit that looked like a cheap ren-fair costume. Virgil almost had cutting remark formulated when he noticed the huge mace strapped to Remus's side.

“Oooooooh Dee, where did you find this sweet piece of forbidden fruit?” Remus asked, grabbing Virgil’s hand. “You look yummy enough to eat.” He bent down like he was about to kiss the hand he was grasping but then licked Virgil’s hand and part of the way up his arm unhindered by the over-sized hoodie Virgil wore. Virgil shrieked and jerked his hand back while Remus cackled. Deceit pulled himself off the floor and dusted off his cape.

“Now, now, Remus, Virgil is going to live with us for a short time. I don’t want you bothering him.” Deceit said a glimmer in his eye that Virgil truly didn’t trust. Remus’s eye had a similar gleam and Virgil had to repress a shiver.

"Awww Dee I could never hurt such a delectable piece of ass!" Remus said and slapped Virgil's butt hard while grinning wildly. Virgil yelped in shock and felt the blood rush to his face out of sheer embarrassment. There had to be somewhere for him to hide away from these two! A rumble echoed through the darkness and a third door joined the other two forming a semi-circle around the living area. Following pure instinct, Virgil bolted for the door, opened it, and slammed it shut behind him. He was shaking and his head felt like it was going to spontaneously combust. What was even happening to him? He'd only been alive for about an hour and he'd been attacked by a smoke monster, probably threatened by a snake man, and sexually harassed by a creep with a mustache! On autopilot, Virgil crawled onto the plain black bed that dominated the tiny room. Pulling the black checkered hoodie he was wearing closer to himself he tried to figure out what had just happened. Virgil tried to take a deep breath and sort out what he knew as facts. 

His name was Virgil, he had woken up in a dark forest where a shadow monster had tried to kill him, he had supposedly been saved by a man called Deceit, he'd been brought to a place that could probably give you all kinds of diseases if you touched anything, where a crazily dressed guy called Remus hit on him like a total perv, and now he was hiding in a room that had appeared out of nowhere. 

Virgil pulled the simple black sheet over his head and curled in on himself. He was slightly calmer after sorting out his thoughts. But one thought still bothered him immensely…

_Who was Thomas?_


	2. New Names On Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil could handle a lot. But when Remus takes the joke too far Virgil runs away and finds himself in a strange new land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter Woohoo! This one is a lot longer than the first chapter and does have some more intense content in it, thus the higher rating. This chapter contains some descriptions of a character's (temporary) death, as well as a mild description of a bleeding wound.  
> Also Virgil has a panic attack in this chapter that I tried to describe as a person who does not suffer from panic attacks so if I messed it up I am very sorry. 
> 
> As before I do not own these characters in any way they are the sole property of Thomas Sanders.  
> Any and all mistakes are my own.

Virgil eventually learned who Thomas was. He learned that he was simply a personification of a piece of Thomas's personality. And he learned what his purpose was, or at least what Deceit had told him it was. He was meant to scare Thomas. He was meant to keep Thomas on edge and panicked, to terrorize and terrify him with Deceit and Remus until Thomas was nothing more than a paranoid mess. But as time went on Virgil couldn't help but feel like he was doing the wrong thing… That he shouldn't be hurting Thomas like he was. But Deceit had been around the longest and he swore that Thomas deserved whatever he got. Sure, Virgil had long since learned that Deceit was the literal personification of lies but he had occasionally told the truth, especially when Thomas was lying to himself. 

"Why do I need to lie when Thomas is doing so spectacularly on his own?" The snake had said with an evil grin. 

Regardless, Virgil did as Deceit and Remus instructed, learning to control the strange black smoke that tended to follow him around and refine it into different types of fear, using it against Thomas. But the longer Virgil lived with the "Dark Sides", as Remus called them (not that Virgil understood why), the more he started to hate them. 

And now Virgil was hating them more than ever, while huddled up on his bed as thick, oil-like, panic lapped at his sheets. This had all started as a simple worry. Mild anxiety about a party that Thomas had to attend. But then, of course, Deceit had to get involved. As soon as Thomas arrived Deceit started whispering lies that no one actually wanted him at the party and that his so-called “friends” were talking about him behind his back. Almost immediately the small anxiety that Virgil had been working on grew out of control as Thomas locked himself in a bathroom. Now both he and Virgil were hugging their knees to their chests, crying silently, and trying desperately to stave off a panic attack. The panic rose even higher as someone knocked on the bathroom door, and as soon as Virgil felt the liquid fear touch his skin he jolted upright. His tiny bedroom felt claustrophobic and Virgil tried to catch his breath, not even realizing he was hyperventilating. His whole body was shaking and there was only one thought in his mind. _'I have_ _ to get out of here!’ _ Virgil’s heart pounded with each booming knock as he climbed onto his dresser to carefully get to his door without touching the black goo that was flooding the room. Now as he looked toward his escape the room seemed to stretch before his eyes leaving miles between him and the door. Virgil almost sobbed but took a shaky breath and continued forward, eyes closed. Not even a minute later he managed to reach the doorknob. He threw open the door and jumped out into the common area, quickly slamming it behind him again before any panic could leak into the rest of the subconscious. Leaning heavily against the door Virgil slid down and sat on the pitch black floor of the common area, breathing like he had just run a marathon. A relieved sob tore itself from his throat as he felt Thomas splash some water on his face and start to calm down. He was going to be ok...

“Hey Virge! How’s it hanging?” A grating voice asked. Still reeling from the panic attack and against his better judgement, Virgil looked up and immediately wished he hadn’t. Remus was suspended a few feet off the ground by a rope noose. The Duke was sticking his tongue out like a dead cartoon character, but the all too realistic blueish-purple color to his face and wide terrified eyes made Virgil’s stomach lurch. He gagged and tore his gaze from Remus. Maybe if he ignored him the other side would get bored and leave him alone long enough for Virgil to retreat back into his room.

“Aw come on now Virgil, don’t lose your  _ head _ !” Remus cackled and tossed his own severed head into Virgil’s lap. Virgil screamed, jumped to his feet, and reflexively kicked the head across the room before turning and running off into the darkness, Remus’s deranged laughter fading behind him.

Virgil wasn’t sure how far he ran or even how long he had been running when he finally noticed the scenery change. Black thorny trees loomed overhead ominously, casting horrible twisting shadows on the ground around him, and Virgil felt his heart skip a beat. He knew this place… This was the forest he had come into being in. Oh no...The smoke monster! Virgil’s panic rose as a thick gray fog started to roll in and he screwed his eyes shut tight. He should have listened to Deceit! He was seriously going to die this time! But as he stood there, accepting his imminent death...nothing happened. Virgil opened his eyes again and looked around him. The fog was as thick as pea soup but as Virgil swiped a hand through it, the fog parted, showing a perfectly clear path. Confused Virgil reached into the fog and grabbed at it, fully expecting it to slip through his fingers, but his hand closed around something solid and Virgil realized what it was. The fog wasn’t a real fog hiding a terrifying monster, it was fear smoke… The very thing that made him who he was, that Deceit had taught him to control. Virgil stared at the wispy smoke in his hand and clenched his fist around it, crushing it in his palm. Instantly the rest of the fog dispersed and Virgil was left feeling pure anger. 

Deceit had lied to him! How could he?! But even as Virgil had that thought he realized how silly it was. Of course Deceit had lied to him. He was  _ Deceit _ for fucks sake! That damn snake had wanted to keep Virgil away from this forest for whatever reason and had lied to get what he wanted, just like he always did. 

_ Well screw Deceit and his rules. _ Virgil thought rebelliously and with renewed determination started walking deeper into the forest. 

As Virgil walked, the forest around him gradually became more lush and lively. Dead black trees grew healthy leaves and the ground under his feet even sprouted soft green grass. Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin the first time a bird’s song cut through the silence around him. A light ahead of him caught Virgil’s eye and he found himself running toward it, a lightness in his heart he had never felt before. Virgil burst through the treeline and quickly shielded his eyes from the extremely bright light. Blinking rapidly to regain his vision Virgil eventually was able to take in his surroundings. He stood at the top of a gently sloped hill, covered in bright green grass and specklings of wildflowers. From the hilltop he could see the rolling countryside all around him. A crystal clear river snaked through the valley below him, bordered by small towns, and disappeared into the perfectly snow-capped mountains that dominated the horizon. Then he noticed something else set near the base of the mountains, a beautiful white castle rose out of the valley, shining and strong. Virgil couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He had somehow run from the dismal hellscape of the subconscious into a fucking Disney movie! No wonder Deceit had wanted to keep this place to himself, it was beautiful! Virgil closed his eyes and breathed, feeling relaxed for the first time in his life. 

But as something sharp pressed up against his neck, every good feeling Virgil had left him in a millisecond. His eyes snapped open and he nearly gasped. How had Remus found him out here? 

“Who are you?” The other asked in a voice that was certainly not Remus’s annoying cackle, pressing a katana harder into Virgil’s throat. Dimly, Virgil felt pain and something wet dripped down his neck but the adrenaline pulsing through his blood wouldn't allow him to think about anything beyond the Remus look-alike threatening him. Virgil’s heart was hammering in his chest and he barely registered what the swordsman had even said. “Well? Answer me! Are you one of the Dragon Witch’s henchmen?” Virgil’s eyes went even wider. What the hell was a Dragon Witch?! Adrenaline pulsed again through his system and Virgil couldn’t even stop his knee as it jerked upward into the swordsman’s crotch. The swordsman dropped to the ground and Virgil ran, reflexively throwing up a smokescreen of pure fear to cover himself. Breathing heavily, Virgil ran down the hill looking around him for a safe place to hide. The thought had only just crossed his mind when he ran face first into something solid. Dazed, he stumbled backwards and realized the object in front of him was a door with a heart carved into the pale wood. Virgil barely had time to consider where the hell a door had come from when he heard shouting behind him. 

“Coward! Come back here and fight me!” Realizing he was out of time and out of options, Virgil yanked open the door and ran inside. Immediately he spun around, slammed the door shut, locked it and, for good measure, poured his current panic onto the door, covering it in a thick black goo. His chest heaved as he looked at his work. The door would hold, hopefully. Taking one last steadying breath Virgil turned around and took in the room around him. It looked like an episode of Hoarders in the room! Every inch of the walls were covered in certificates, drawings, exams and other pieces of paper, while nearly every hard surface was littered with trophies and playbills and textbooks. The bed near the opposite corner of the room was absolutely swamped in stuffed animals, and right next to Virgil a stack of black and white composition notebooks took up a whole other corner of the room. Curious, Virgil picked up the top one and flipped to a random page. Instantly, he threw the book across the room. Poems! Thomas’s angsty teenage poems! Virgil felt his entire body cringe and shiver. Who in the world would want to keep all of these?! His question was answered all too soon as another door started to open across the room.

“Roman, I thought nothing could escape your room…” A soft voice whimpered. 

“They usually can’t Padre… Which makes this one all the more dangerous!” The same boisterous voice from before replied. Virgil froze, he was exposed and there was somehow not a single place to hide in this mess of a room! 

“Patton, I assure you, I have done extensive testing. Nothing imaginary should be able to leave Roman’s room for more than a few seconds at a time. Perhaps Roman just thought he saw this dark figure-” There was a pause and a quiet rustling of paper, “‘Yeet’ itself into your room.” A rather emotionless voice finished as the door fully opened. Three nearly identical men stood in the doorway all of them now staring at him. Virgil could do nothing else but stare back. Then the shortest of the three gasped audibly, breaking the strange spell that had fallen over them. The princely looking swordsman from before drew his katana and immediately pointed it at Virgil. Smoke collected itself around Virgil's hands, and as he realized that there was no running away from the confrontation, the smoke coelesed into twin knives. Virgil wondered fleetingly how he must look, dressed all in black and brandishing daggers made of smoke. He felt like the villain in a movie… And now he was probably about to die like one too, as the heroic looking swordsman took a step forward. 

“Wait!” The one Virgil could only assume lived in this room, based off the soft pastel colors he wore, shouted. “He’s hurt!” He pushed past the two others, much to the protestation of both, and moved slowly towards Virgil. “Hey there kiddo… I’m Patton. That’s Roman and Logan. They won’t hurt you, I promise.” Patton said with a warm smile and soft voice. “You’re safe here.”

“Patton! Get back here! You don’t know what it could do!” Roman cried, never lowering his sword. Virgil twitched. He wasn’t an ‘it’! 

“Can’t you see Roman? He’s terrified. He doesn’t want to hurt any of us!” Patton said taking another step toward Virgil. Virgil backed up a few steps and raised one pitch black blade, pointing it at Patton.

“Don’t come any closer!” He growled, his voice doubled and demonic sounding as his knives lengthened into full sized curved swords, feeding off his terror.

“Patton, Roman is right! Come back before it hurts you!” Logan said, the barest hint of fear in his voice. Patton looked back at the other two men and shook his head. 

“I’m not going to abandon him. He’s hurt and scared! How am I supposed to teach Thomas to do the right thing if I won’t do it myself?” He cried and then turned back to Virgil. Virgil blinked and unconsciously lowered his blades. 

“You know Thomas?” He asked, his voice back to normal. Patton smiled warmly.

“Of course I know Thomas. I’m his Morality! Logan over there is his logic and Roman is his creativity. He tends to get a little passionate though. Did he give you that nasty old cut?” Patton asked and pointed at Virgil’s throat. Virgil had totally forgotten that he was bleeding until Patton pointed it out to him. One of his swords dissolved into smoke as he reached up to touch the gash in his neck. It was still wet with blood. “I’m really sorry. I’ve told Roman to be more careful with that sword. If it would be okay with you I could patch it up for you?” Virgil didn’t respond, he just kept looking at the bright red liquid staining his fingers. His other hand went lax and before the sword hit the ground it dissolved as well. Patton moved slowly and deliberately as if approaching a wounded animal, and offered his hand to Virgil. Moving almost as if in a trance, Virgil took Patton’s hand and let himself be guided towards the bed. “Logan. Can you bring me a first aid kit?” Patton asked, pulling Virgil out of his trance. 

“Patton you can’t be serious! That thing was going to attack us! Did you not see the weird smoke knives?” Roman cried and Virgil narrowed his eyes. This bastard was getting on his nerves. 

“You got something to say Princey?” Virgil snapped. “You’re the one who attacked me first.  _ I _ was defending myself.” He said glaring at Roman. “Why don’t you help poindexter find the first-aid kit.” Roman glared back at Virgil and, as Virgil looked at him he couldn’t believe he had mistaken him for Remus. Remus had that ugly ass mustache and his equally terrible clothes, Roman however looked obnoxiously perfect. Extravagant clothes in red and white, hair that looked so effortless it had to have been styled and perfect skin without a blemish or scar on it. Virgil kind of wanted to punch him in the face just to see that perfectness break and become all bruised and bloody. Logan was also watching him carefully, obviously thinking about how best to deal with him. He was perfect too, but in a totally different way than the obnoxious prince. He was perfect like a geometric shape, all straight lines and exact corners. Virgil didn’t think there was even a hair out of place in his perfectly styled locks. He wondered vaguely what Logan would do if he were to run his hands through it. Logan seemed to come to some unknown decision as he watched Virgil watch him and then waved his hand and summoned a small first-aid kit, which he handed to Patton. Patton smiled warmly and opened up the kit pulling out a roll of bandages and a pack of alcohol swabs.

“I’m sorry kiddo, this is going to sting a bit.” Patton said quietly and tore open the alcohol pad then dabbed it gently on Virgil’s open wound. Virgil hissed and clenched his fist at the stinging sensation. He saw Roman tense up and could tell he was afraid that Virgil would hurt Patton. To be fair he almost did as Patton continued to clean out the gash in his neck, but then Patton laid a gentle hand over Virgil’s fist and Virgil swore warmth rushed through his whole body, relaxing him. He felt his eyes slide closed and an almost inaudible sigh escaped his lips as he felt calmer than he ever had before. The touch was like being curled up in bed, cuddled by a loved one, just enjoying each other’s presence in the wee hours of morning. It was like drinking hot chocolate while watching snow fall outside. Patton’s touch made Virgil’s heart feel like it was going to burst, but not in the terrible panicked way he was used to. Patton’s touch felt like pure love. Patton only let go of Virgil’s hand to wrap a few layers of bandages over the clean cut. “There. All done!” Virgil opened his eyes, still intensely relaxed, and saw Patton smiling warmly at him, his deep brown eyes trusting and almost proud. Virgil shivered, he had never seen a look like that on Remus or Deceit. 

“So what’s your name kiddo?” Patton asked gently. Virgil almost answered, still feeling almost high off Patton’s calming presence, but then he saw Roman shift in his peripheral vision. The Prince was leaning forward, as if to hear better. A small bubble of anxiety grew in his stomach. Roman definitely seemed the type to make fun of someone for his name. He couldn’t just give the prince his real name as ammunition. He tried to think of what to call himself. Then he remembered how Patton had called himself Thomas’s morality. Virgil bit his lip, he could do that. But what was he to Thomas? A name popped unbidden into Virgil’s mind.

“Anxiety… Call me Anxiety.”

"Well then Anxiety, how did you get here?" Patton asked.

"Yes how exactly did you end up in my kingdom?" Roman said with a glare. Logan also seemed interested to hear Virgil’s answer. Virgil glared back at the two of them.

"Not exactly your business, is it Princey?" Virgil snapped back. "Besides you'd probably try to send me back and I don't think I want to go back." Virgil got up from the bed and shouldered his way past Roman and Logan.

"Anxiety no one is going to make you go back anywhere!" Patton said, following him into the common area. Virgil scoffed when he saw it. A large sectional couch sat in front of a flat screen television, there was a cozy-looking high backed chair in a corner next to a bookshelf, and there was even a full kitchen with an island and a dinner table. Of course everything had to be nicer here.

The other three followed him into their living room as Virgil looked at the doors that obviously lead to their rooms. 

"Ah yeah that's what's missing." He said and waved his hand. He saw roman reach again for his sword as the floor began to shake underneath them and a fourth door joined the other three. "My room." Virgil smirked and turned to face the others. Roman looked absolutely disgusted while Patton was squealing excitedly. Logan however looked perfectly calm. 

"Awwww! Anxiety is gonna live with us!" Patton cried happily. "Disney Night is tomorrow you should join us!" Roman gasped even more distraught. 

"Patton! No! Disney Night is sacred and cannot be tainted with his foul input!" He shrieked.

"Whatever. Look I'm going in my room now." Virgil said with one final eye roll and entered his room. It was much bigger than before with dark purple walls and a matching purple bed. Strands of soft white fairy lights lit the room, keeping it comfortably dim, the sole window was covered with some adorable spider curtains, while on the other side of the room there was an incredibly squishy looking bean bag chair surrounded by shelves of CDs, tapes, and records. Nearly every album Thomas had ever listened to was there! And to top it all off, sat atop a stack of Virgil’s favorite audiobooks, horror novels of course, sat a brand new set of noise cancelling headphones. This was the life! 

_ Who needs the others anyway when he had all this?  _ Virgil thought happily. There was another slight tremor and a dark wood door appeared in his wall, opposite the door that lead outside, and Virgil instinctively knew it connected back to the subconscious. Back to his old room. Back to the Dark Sides… Virgil sighed. He supposed it was always a good idea to have an escape route. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As questions come with Anxiety's appearance, how will Patton, Roman, and Logan react to their new roommate?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I can't believe I finally finished this! I have rewritten this chapter about 5 or 6 times since I started it. Really sorry to the people waiting on this chapter, writer's block is a total bitch sometimes...  
> Trigger warnings for a couple of panic attacks, and references to past physical abuse.

Patton was ecstatic! There hadn’t been other sides in the consciousness since… Patton’s good mood disappeared instantly. Well… Patton didn’t like to think about that… It had been so long ago. Logan never talked about it, and Roman pretended like it hadn't happened at all… But the others weren’t old enough to remember what it had been like in the beginning. When it was just Patton and… him… Patton hated to say it sometimes but he really missed having his whole family around. He collapsed back on his bed, engulfed by the stuffed animals, and sighed deeply. Anxiety reminded Patton far too much of the others…  
“Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on them… It is my fault they’re gone after all…” Patton said quietly, squeezing a plush snake, as a couple of tears leaked out of his eyes. He furiously wiped the tears away with his sleeve. “Stop it… You’re supposed to be their happy pappy Patton! Not a gloomy Gus…” Too many people were relying on him. Roman, Logan, Thomas, and now even Anxiety needed him. Patton had pretended not to notice how the darkly dressed teen had practically leaned into his touch as he patched up his wound. Besides, he obviously wasn’t a brand new side. Thomas had been dealing with unspoken anxiety since he was a middle-schooler. The three main sides had tried to fix it. Logan had Thomas research ways to healthily deal with stress, Roman created countless fantasy worlds for Thomas to escape to, and Patton tried to reassure Thomas that his feelings were valid and okay to have. None of that had worked in the long term apparently, given Anxiety’s presence. But one question had been bothering Patton. If Anxiety wasn’t a new side, where had he grown up? 

Logan had been pondering the same question in his own room. There were so many interesting questions about the side. Anxiety was a puzzle, and Logan had always been excellent at solving puzzles. He was already starting to put some of the pieces together. Anxiety had never answered Patton’s question about how he ended up in Roman’s room, though Logan had a hypothesis. It was one he had been working on for a while, but new observations in the form of Anxiety had led him to his current hypothesis. Perhaps the imagination that Roman called home, so closely connected to dreams, was also connected to the subconscious. Truthfully, he had no way of testing this, but he did remember that when the others had left they went through the imagination. Logan tapped his pen against his desk as he thought. They hadn’t seen the others since that day, and maybe they had ended up trapped in the subconscious. Though if they were trapped how was Anxiety able to traverse the gap between the two? Logan hummed and put the pen down for the moment. There just wasn’t enough information to follow that line of reasoning yet. He would have to just observe Anxiety some more until he divulged his secrets. Though there was one thing that Logan had been able to put together almost instantly after meeting Anxiety. The younger side had a darkness to him, between the ability to manifest knives and swords, to the sharp, calculating look he had given Logan as they sized each other up. His cheeks flushed red as capillaries filled with blood against his will, as he remembered that look. There definitely was something dangerous about Anxiety. And Logan almost couldn’t wait to find out what.

Roman stalked around his palace bedroom. There was something dangerous about this Anxiety! How could the others not see it?! The cocky bastard had just waltzed into Roman’s room and threatened them all with swords, and yet Patton was totally enamored with him! Even inviting him to Disney Night! Even Logan had seemed unphased by the other’s sudden decision to move in! He couldn’t have this Anxiety bewitching his friends and besmirching his reputation as a hero! He could just see the smug look on Anxiety’s face as his best friends took one look at the other side’s doe eyes, outlined in far too much eyeshadow, his soft features, a little bit of baby fat still clinging to his cheeks, and the serene look on his face that had appeared when he finally relaxed. He could see his friends turning away from him and going with the dark-eyed stranger that had cast a spell on them, and leaving him alone again… Roman set his jaw. Well, that wasn’t going to happen! Not if Prince Roman had anything to do with it. He was going to get rid of Anxiety before he sunk his claws into the others! He wasn’t going to lose anyone else.  
It took Virgil about two months to actually venture out of his room for the famed Disney Night. He poked his head out of his door, scanning the main common room for any life. Seeing no one, he slipped out of his room and awkwardly curled up on the couch. Virgil pulled his hood up and drew his knees to his chest, watching the other doors, waiting for one of them to walk out and boot him back into his room. What the hell was he doing here anyway? It was obvious no one wanted him!  
Virgil was so deep in his own thoughts he didn’t even notice Patton walk into the common room until he heard the quiet gasp. Virgil flinched a little and slowly looked up at Patton, expecting him to look angry for taking up a seat. But Patton’s beaming smile surprised him.  
“Hello, Anxiety! It’s good to finally get you at movie night!” He said, his grin not slipping an inch. Virgil tried to smile back, but he was sure it looked like an awful grimace.  
“No problem Pat…” He said, his voice full of awkwardness.  
“Would you like some popcorn? I can make you an extra bag!”  
“No, that’s okay… I’ll just watch the movie.”  
“If you’re sure Kiddo,” Patton said and went into the kitchen to set the popcorn in the microwave. He was back seconds later and bent down to rifle through the movies before finally picking one out. Virgil let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and relaxed a bit into the couch. Patton seemed to be content with his presence. Maybe the others wouldn’t be too bad.  
His pleasant thought was quickly disproven as Roman burst regally out of his room.  
“A dream is a wish your-” Roman cut off and stared at Virgil curled up on the sectional. He seemed shocked that Virgil had gotten there before him.  
“What are you doing here Panic! at the Everywhere?” He grit out, arms crossed defensively in front of his chest. Virgil glared back at the prince.  
“Come on now Roman, Anxiety is allowed to be here just as much as you or I,” Patton interjected before Virgil could give a biting remark.  
“Fine. But it’s my pick tonight.”  
“Yup already got it loaded kiddo.” Roman huffed and sat down on the other side of the couch, as far away from Virgil as he could be. Virgil smirked a little at the pouting Prince and relaxed against the couch once again.  
Logan arrived last, his silver laptop in his arms, and sat in the chair furthest from the rest of them.  
“Logan? Don’t you want to watch the movie with us?” Patton asked, a hint of whining in his voice.  
“No, I do not wish to watch it with you, Patton. Roman will have picked one of 3 movies all of which I have been forced to view many times.” Logan droned and Virgil snorted a bit at Roman’s bitch-face.  
“At least my movies are actually fun, calculator watch.” Roman huffed. “You don’t even pick real Disney Movies!”  
“Falsehood. My last choice was a documentary produced by Disney Nature. It was a highly informative piece about chimpanzees in the rainforest.”  
“Those don’t count! A documentary is not a movie!”  
“Come on Roman. Be nice. It’s movie night!” Patton implored, “And this is the first time that Anxiety has come watched with us!” Roman sighed and leaned back against the couch, seemingly giving up for the moment. “Besides I thought the monkeys were so cute in Logan’s movie!”  
“Whatever Padre, let’s just start the film.”  
“Chimpanzees are not monkeys Patton. They are Great Apes just like humans.”  
Patton shrugged with a smile then settled between Virgil and Roman, a large bowl of popcorn on his lap. Virgil shifted a bit and sunk a little deeper into the couch, feeling oddly comfortable with this new setting as the Disney logo hummed to life on the screen.  
It had taken Virgil two months to join movie night, and about an hour and a half for him to screw it all up.  
“You take that back! Right now!” Roman shouted, on his feet and glaring at the smirking side.  
“What? I’m just saying the prince in this movie is a total idiot. Who can’t memorize the face of a person they’ve been dancing with for hours?” Virgil said smugly as the credits rolled.  
“He was a very busy prince! What is with all the prince hate?!” Roman said indignantly.  
“I wonder…” Virgil muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.  
“To be fair Roman, Anxiety has a point. I always thought the shoe based system was flawed. Any number of women could have had her shoe size.” Logan piped up from his armchair. He had put away his laptop a little while ago and was now flipping through some flashcards.  
“Guys let’s not fight. It’s movie night, remember?” Patton said, a little desperately. Virgil shrugged. He was starting to realize that he really didn’t like it when Patton was sad.  
“Whatever. It’s not a big deal anyway. It’s just a movie,” he said, ready to concede the point. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.  
“JUST A MOVIE? Are you blind or just crazy?! Cinderella is not just a movie, it is a masterpiece!” Roman yelled again, his fists clenched, one raised slightly. Virgil flinched, throwing his hands up to cover his face reflexively.  
“Roman Sanders that is enough!” Patton shouted in his best Dad voice, also on his feet now. “That’s it! Movie night is over!” Roman spun to look at Patton.  
“Seriously?! Patton, he started it!”  
“And I’m finishing it! You are terrifying him! Is that becoming of a prince at all?!”

Virgil could barely hear the conversation the two sides were having. His mind was racing, waiting for the inevitable blow to land. Remus liked beating him up a while ago. Why would that have changed at all? Virgil waited and waited but no painful punch came. What was happening? Deceit never stopped Remus. He could vaguely hear arguing and he wanted to see what Dee and Remus were yelling about this time but his arms wouldn’t move away from cradling his head. What if Remus was just waiting for him to drop his guard and was ready to sucker punch him in the face the second he moved his arms? He could feel the panic overtaking him, his breath catching in his throat as his vision narrowed to pinpricks.  
“-iety? Anxiety? Can you hear me? Patton, I believe Anxiety is having a panic attack.”  
Wait, that didn’t sound like Deceit or Remus... Who was that?  
“Kiddo? Anxiety, it’s me, Patton, could you put your arms down for me? No one is going to hurt you bud.” Now that didn’t sound like Deceit either… Maybe they weren’t lying? Very slowly Virgil’s arms lowered and he was finally able to see who was in front of him. Soft blue eyes met his and lips curled into a shaky smile. Patton. Of course. He wasn’t back with Remus and Deceit. He was here in the consciousness with Patton, Logan, and Roman. His body relaxed ever so slightly as he took several deep breaths. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8.  
As his panic faded, Virgil was finally able to see Patton’s scared smile, Roman’s surprisingly concerned face, and Logan handing him a pack of tissues.  
“Here Anxiety.” Virgil blinked as his awareness finally expanded to his face and he could feel the wet tear tracks running down his cheeks.  
“O-oh. I didn’t know I was crying…” He rasped and took the tissues, dabbing his eyes and blowing his nose.  
“You scared us there kiddo, what was that all about?” Patton asked, still crouching in front of Virgil, his hand hovering above Virgil’s as if he was too afraid to touch him and cause more panic.  
“It... it was nothing,” Virgil said trying to brush off his stupid panic attack.  
“Obviously it was not nothing Anxiety. One doesn’t usually go from perfectly adequate to trapped in the throes of panic in a few seconds. A trigger is normally necessary.” Logan explained. Virgil tried to wipe the smeared makeup from his cheeks.  
“I just…”  
“It would not be wise to lie again. As we can only help if you are completely truthful.”  
“Kiddo… You don’t have to tell us everything, we just want to help.” Patton said, finally putting his hand over Virgil’s. Virgil bit his lip, and his eyes met Roman’s. The prince looked away quickly, obviously feeling guilty. Well if even Princy wanted to help he supposed he could spill. Just a little bit.  
"Roman startled me, that's all. Like I said. It's no big deal." Virgil said with a shrug. "I dunno. Fight or flight, am I right? Anyway… I'm just gonna head for my room. Later." He said and practically jumped off the couch to dash back into his room. 

Patton was perturbed by Anxiety's quick exit, feeling like there was something that the young side was hiding.  
“I’m gonna go check on him.” He said and started towards Anxiety’s room. He approached the pitch-black door and was about to knock before hesitating. Maybe Anxiety really didn’t need his help… Maybe he shouldn’t push… Patton’s hand trembled and he grit his teeth. No. He needed to know. He needed to make sure Anxiety was okay. He rapped his knuckles softly against the dark oak. “Anxiety? Are you alright?” There was silence on the other side of the door. “Kiddo? Can I come in?” Patton asked gently, hoping he wasn’t ruining everything. “I just want to talk, if you want to. You don’t have to though! I’m just a little worried about you Anxiety, you ducked out on us pretty quick.” Oh god, he was rambling… He barely even knew what he was saying anymore, but he couldn’t stop. He was about to keep on rambling when the door opened. Anxiety stood in front of him, black makeup streaked on his face.  
“I said I was fine Patton…” The younger side slouched against his doorframe, looking as if he wanted to be absorbed into his dark hoodie. He wouldn’t even meet Patton’s eyes.  
“I know… but I kind of don’t believe you… Please Anxiety. I just want to help.” Patton pleaded, fingers twitching at how much he wanted to pull the smaller man into his arms and squeeze all the bad feelings out of him. Anxiety bit his lip and then moved out of the way, letting Patton enter his dimly lit room.  
Anxiety’s room was not what Patton expected. Sure he didn’t know exactly what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this. The softly lit room didn’t scream fear and evil, like Roman had posited one speculation-filled night, nor was it the dark, overly clean space Logan was sure it was. This room was comfortable. A haven against the loud craziness of the rest of the family. Patton smiled, it was perfect for the anxious young man. He flinched when Anxiety shut the door, the loud noise startling him a bit.  
“Alright… What do you want to talk about?” Anxiety asked, sitting down on his bed, still not looking Patton in the eyes.  
“Well, Kiddo I figured you should do the talking. I’m a really good listener, I swear." Patton said sitting next to him. "We can talk about what just happened if you think you're ready to…"  
"I…" Anxiety started but then paused, "Like I said. I just got startled. It's fine." They sat in silence for a second until a quiet creaking noise caught Patton's attention. That's when he noticed the other door. It was smaller than Anxiety's front door, and this one was half-hidden behind some curtains. It was made of twisted black wood and a chill ran down Patton's spine just looking at it. The door was slightly cracked open, but no light escaped from the other room.  
"Um, Anxiety?"  
"Loud noises just, like, scare me sometimes and I just didn't like Princy screaming at me." The door creaked a bit more, and Patton swore he heard something just beyond the door. Anxiety stiffened as if remembering the door’s existence. Shakily he raised a hand and the door shut suddenly, the click of the lock echoing through the silent room.  
“Kiddo?” Patton gently put his hand over Anxiety’s hoping to offer some comfort. Suddenly a rush of panic washed over him. His heart started pounding in his chest and tears built up in his eyes. His skin crawled as if thousands of spiders were walking all over him, and he started to shake. Anxiety gasped and pulled his hand away from Patton’s.  
“Patton?” Anxiety asked, his voice doubled and demonic. “Oh shit… What did I do?” Patton couldn’t answer, his throat had closed up in his panic and speech was impossible. “Um ok, so you gotta breathe with me, Pat… In... out... in... out.” The demonic voice quieted and disappeared as Anxiety breathed, and as Patton breathed with him his own fear seemed to dissipate.  
“What the sugar honey iced tea was that?” He said as he calmed down. Anxiety snorted a little, the tension bleeding out of him.  
“Really? Sugar Honey Iced Tea?” The dark-haired side asked, smiling awkwardly. Patton wiped his eyes, noticing the black smudge on the back of his hand as he did so.  
“Oh hush…” He said, voice hoarse. “But really, what is that Anxiety?” Patton asked, pointing at the door that was now shut and locked tight. Anxiety deflated as if he could barely hold himself together.  
“My escape hatch… My way out.” He almost whispered. Patton wrinkled his nose.  
“What do you mean?” He asked, brushing his fingers briefly over Anxiety’s wrist.  
“It… It goes to my old room… With the Dark Sides.” Anxiety whispered, eyes downcast. Patton’s heart dropped. So, he had been right… No wonder Roman had scared Anxiety so much.  
“Oh Anxiety…” He sighed, pulling the younger side into a hug.  
“Virgil…” Patton blinked. Had he heard that right?  
“Huh?”  
“My name… It’s Virgil.” Virgil leaned into Patton’s arms, soaking up the affection. Patton smiled a little, hugging him tighter.  
“Hi Virgil… Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” He said, tucking Virgil under his chin. As if all the energy suddenly drained out of the smaller man Virgil’s eyes slipped closed and he almost immediately fell asleep in Patton’s arms. Patton felt heat come to his cheeks as he shifted them both on the bed, laying Virgil’s head on his chest. And if his heart skipped a few beats, or his stomach filled with butterflies as he cuddled Virgil, well, that was just the lingering adrenaline in his system.


	4. Author's Note

Hey everyone, Ink here. So if you guys have been keeping up with the Sanders Sides episodes you'll know that Putting Others First just came out and it has totally turned some of the feelings I have for a few characters on their heads, and I really don't like the direction I am going in with this fic anymore, given Deceit's new name and motivations. However, I still really like the ideas I have been working on in this fic, so instead of just abandoning it, I will be rewriting the chapters that currently exist to a point where I like them again, and posting them to a different story. It will share the same name so look for A Storm Rolls In (To Stay) [Redux] on my profile. Once I rewrite all 3 existing chapters I will probably be deleting this fic.  
So sorry to the people who like this fic as it is, I just have no more motivation to write it anymore and I really want to explore some more interesting dynamics with the Dark Sides.

~Ink

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I still can't really believe I posted this. There is no beta for this fic, so any and all mistakes are my own. Please leave any constructive criticisms in the comments! I would love to hear from the fandom on how to make my writing better.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Storm Rolls In (To Stay) [Redux]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24059230) by [InkandFire98](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkandFire98/pseuds/InkandFire98)




End file.
